CIC - Curriculum and Instruction, Core

This course prepares Curriculum and Instruction with Advanced Professional Specializations M.Ed. and Ed.S. degree candidates for successful pursuit of their graduate program of studies at NLU. As an introductory experience, the course welcomes new candidates to NLU and the National College of Education (NCE), introduces them to NCE’s institutional identity, history, mission, values, and learning technologies, supports candidates’ creation of an electronic portfolio and expressions of professional identity, helps them explore applicable codes of educator ethics, and sets the stage for successful pursuit of academic concentrations and professional endorsements within the Curriculum and Instruction with Advanced Professional Specializations program. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 1 semester hour

This course enables school professionals to transition from analyzing data pertaining solely to individual classroom decision-making to collaborating on and leading teams whose purpose is to understand data and its ramifications for improving student performance across schools – and potentially school districts. Participants will learn how to use data to ask vital questions, think critically, and problem solve about issues with colleagues that occur in school contexts. Evaluating data-informed decisions and using data-informed decisions to craft policy, as well as data literacy ethics, will be addressed. It offers insight into the dynamics, challenges and effective practices of leading collaborative teams generally, while understanding the nature of conflict in decision making. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

This course provides an integrated experience for candidates in the Curriculum and Instruction concentration of the M.Ed. and Ed.S. programs. Candidates analyze the interrelatedness of relevant current educational issues and engage their skills of reflective practice to examine their professional goals, understandings, development, and advocacy initiatives. Focus during this course is on examining and analyzing the current trends in preK-12 education as they relate to 21st century skills so that candidates develop advanced curricular capacities in content areas. Candidates will initiate a self-study to demonstrate their growth in in content knowledge and targets for continued professional development. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

In this course, candidates explore the various types of curricular design and how they are recognized in practice. Through engaging in readings, discussions and field based research, they will explore their current practice in their chosen area of curricular expertise, including how they have made decisions on what to teach, how those decisions are in alignment with their philosophical stances, and how they currently do or do or do not enact their beliefs in their learning communities. The coursework will direct them to identify aspects of their practice that could be improved to meet the needs of their students using the conceptual thinking model and then arrive at a deeper understanding of that specific content area. Finally, candidates will examine current educational critical issues and their implications for their professional contexts. For example, they will engage in discussions and assignments, including what culturally responsive teaching and leading and teaching equitable Asian American community history (TEAACH) might look like in their contexts. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

In this course, the focus of the course content is to explore a specific area of enacted curriculum and analyze its current implementation for gaps, biases, and the hidden curriculum. Candidates in the program will be supported to demonstrate an understanding of how to create meaningful surveys to elicit clear and meaningful data from their students or stakeholders and then how to analyze the results of the enacted change based on data collected. To further their expertise as content area specialists, they will be guided to construct a plan for future implementation based on their data analysis and teaching/ learning contexts. Pre-requisite(s): None but having previously taken CIC 511 and CIC 521 is highly encouraged. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

The course supports M.Ed. and Ed.S candidates pursuing concentrations in Curriculum & Instruction with Advanced Professional Specializations (CIAPS) program, organizing a formative mid-program examination of candidates’ academic progress. The course prompts candidates to evaluate growth in knowledge and competencies after taking CIC 501 and courses in their selected Advanced Professional Specializations. As a mid-program experience, CIC 555 provides a platform for candidates to: (1) synthesize gains in content knowledge across courses; (2) analyze educator and learner dispositions in comparison to classroom realities; (3) elaborate on their evolving professional identities; and (4) engage in case study analysis involving educator ethics. Pre-requisite(s): CIC 501. Co-requisite(s): None. 1 semester hour

This workshop is designed for early career teachers as they develop more effective learning environments and instructional delivery strategies. Candidates will focus on themes that support their growth as classroom teachers. Themes include classroom procedures, building relationships with students, communicating with parents, proactive management strategies, and developing, understanding, and delivering consequences. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 0 semester hour

This workshop is designed for early career teachers as they develop more effective learning environments and instructional delivery strategies. Candidates will focus on themes that support their growth as classroom teachers. Themes include elements of lesson opening and closing, modeling and questioning effectively, formative assessment, giving effective praise, teacher stress, professional relationships and working with parents. Pre-requisite(s): CIC 585AF. Co-requisite(s): None. 0 semester hour

This workshop is designed for early career teachers as they develop more effective learning environments and instructional delivery strategies. Candidates will focus on themes that support their growth as classroom teachers. Themes include the differentiation and identifying student profiles, interest, and readiness. Pre-requisite(s): CIC 585AF and CIC 585AG. Co-requisite(s): None. 1 semester hour

Children, teens, and young adults spend hours every day exposed to media. But they often lack a fundamental understanding of the nature of media and how it impacts them. People who are media literate are often more active, ethically aware citizens. Teachers and professors don’t have room in their schedules to add modules teaching media literacy; but what if they could weave media literacy into their lessons? In this workshop, educators will learn about five elements of media literacy, how media impacts their students, and, using their own lesson plans, explore integration of media literacy into their classrooms. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 1 semester hour

CIC 595E serves early career teachers as part of NLU’s Advanced Teacher Practices Series, exploring topics of compelling interest to educators seeking to become highly effective teachers. This course is the first in a series of three related courses that explore the concept of the grounded teacher and present five precepts that serve as requisite indicators for performing as a poised and self-assured teacher who successfully uses tenets of positive discipline and effective classroom management. Successful participants will gain a conceptual framework for performing as an impactful teacher and will reflectively apply the grounded teacher framework to their own professional practice. Pre-requisite(s): None. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hour

CIC 597 supports M.Ed. and Ed.S. degree candidates in the Curriculum & Instruction with Advanced Professional Specializations program with a culminating addition to the candidates’ professional portfolio and a summative assessment of candidates’ final results in their Advanced Professional Specializations. Faculty assess candidates’ progress after taking CIC 501, CIC 555, CIC 597, and content-centered courses in their academic specializations. As a capstone experience, the course provides a platform for candidates to integrate work across courses, engage in a final reflection on educator ethics, and write a concluding introspective narrative on the holistic experience of earning their advanced credential. Pre-requisite(s): CIC 555. Co-requisite(s): None. 1 semester hour